We lived in Columbus for about 8 years...and we loved it! No kiddos at the time tho. There is an AP style shop called Sprout Soup that you might want to check into - I met the woman who runs it at a festival last summer and she seemed to be very AP. And there is this group http://www.columbusapvillage.com/

I'm not sure where you are coming from, but we are from a smallish town and found the move to Columbus to be a very easy transition to "city life." We loved all of the activities and recreation available. We lived in the city and it was great b/c we almost never took the highway to get anywhere...it was all just a few blocks or miles away. IMO, the best places to live are Grandview, Victorian Village, Short North or Upper Arlington. If those are too pricey (we were just renting), Clintonville is very nice too and growing quickly. German Village is awesome, but also expensive. If you are looking for suburbs, check out Hilliard - still not too far out and much less expensive.

Cols is great b/c most of the people living there did not grow up there. Many came for OSU, others for professional opportunities...this makes it very easy to meet people b/c a lot of people are in the same boat with being new to the area.

Wonderful restaurants too!

Please let me know if you have any more specific questions. I'm happy to help.